Thursday, June 16, 2011

Learning about the Crane Family






Today we traveled to the Performing Arts Center at the high school to hear a presentation about the Crane family and the history of Crane Beach Day. There was a slide presentation with many old pictures of the Crane estate and the Crane family. We even saw pictures of Crane Beach day from long ago! After walking back to school, we were treated to a lovely piece of chocolate because long ago, Mr. Crane gave picnic attendees chocolate. What a fun and interesting day!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Rain...Inside the Classroom!



We reviewed the water cycle and forms of precipitation. While the water was boiling, we threw in some confetti and observed what the Coriolis effect is like - it is the likelihood of air masses to spin in predictable ways.

How do Air Masses Act?





We did an activity that showed how hot and cold air masses interact. After watching a video clip about the types of air masses (hot and cold, moist and dry), we used water and oil to simulate how air masses work. The students discovered that hot air masses rise and cold air masses sink because they are more dense.

Surveys











In math, each student created a survey, compiled data, created charts and graphs, and found landmark data (maximum, minimum, mean, median, mode, range). We used Microsoft Excel for the project. The outcomes are informative and awesome-looking!